Creating a smooth MP3 Player

This complex tutorial will be teaching you how to build this great MP3 Player in Photoshop.

Please pay atention to the details and dont skip any stepts of this tutorial, thus you will also create this great MP3 Player.

With this said, take a look at the final result and lets start working !

Setting up the workspace:

Create a 600x600 document with a white background.

Part I : Drawing the main shape and the display:

1.First we need to set up our player's shape. Use the polygonal lasso tool to draw a selection like mine:

2.Now go to channels palette and click the "save selection as channel" button:

Press Ctr+D on your keyboard to deselect.

Select Filter-Blur-Gaussian Blur, use a radius of 25 pixels.

Press Ctrl+L to adjust the levels of our channel. Use the following settings:

Ctrl+click Alpha1 channel thumbnail to get it's selection.

Now go back to layers palette, create a new layer(name it "main shape"), press D on your keyboard to reset colors and Alt+D to fill the selection with black.

Ctrl+D to deselect.

3.Now we want to add some styles to our shape:

4.Lets cut a little from the top to make it look nicer. Repeat step 3 untill you get something like this:

Select main shape layer and press delete. You notice that the styles we applied earlier followed the new shape.

5.Repeat step 3 again to create our display (you may play with the setteings untill you get the desired shape):

Create a new layer, name it "dispaly inn" and press Alt-Backspace to fill.Don't deselect yet, and apply the following styles:

Select-Modify-Contract with a setting of 2 pixels.

6.Create a new layer (display) and press Alt+Backspace to fill the selection with black and apply the following styles:

7.Now lets add some noise to the display to make it more realistic:

Create a new layer (display noise) and press fill it with white.Deselect and add some noise (Filter-Noise-Add Noise):

Now reduce the opacity of this layer to 25%.

8.Lets make our display active:

Create a new layer (timer) and make a circle using the elliptical marquee tool:

Select the timer layer and fill the selection with this color #AEC1E2. Then apply this syles:

Create a new layer (timer2) and draw a shape using the Rounded Rectangle Tool (radius 50):

Apply the same styles to this shape:

Using the custom shape tool draw 2 more shapes is 2 different layers (timer3 and timer4) and apply the same styles:

Add some text too (I used a digital font):

Hide all layers except timer, timer2,3,4 and the text layer. Create a new layer and press Ctrl+Shift+E to merge the layers. Rename the layer "timer". Reduce its opacity to 40%.

Now to create the bar graphs:

Create a new layer (bar graph) and draw a shape using Rounded Rectangle Tool (radius 5):

Create a new layer (bars) and using the rectangular marquee tool draw small rectangles until you get something like this:

Repeat the last step to merge the last 2 layers. Reduce the opacity to 40% and rename the layer bar graph.

Using the same method draw some shapes untill you get something like this:

9.We are going to add some reflection to our display:

Create a new layer (display ref), make an elliptical selection and using the gradient tool draw a with to transparent gradient:

Ctrl+Click display layer, press Ctrl+Shift+I to invert selection and press delete. You are now done with the display.

Part II : Creating the buttons:

1.Play button:

Simmilar with the display, create an elliptical selection fill it with black and use the same styles as we used for the inset. Contract the selection by 2pixels, fill it (in a new layer) and use the following syles:

Using the Wingdings 3 font, type "u" to get a triangle. Fill it with white and add an outer glow to it. Dont forget to create a new layer for each shape you draw.

Make a reflection to the play button just like you did to the display. Your final result should look like this:

2.Using the same method and adjusting the styles on your own will, create the rest of the buttons ( + and - , forward, next, pause and shut down):

Notice that for the fw.pause, next butons I used the rounded rectangle tool.

3.Create a shape as you did with the main shape:

Create the indent, contract, fill and apply the following styles:

You will end up with something like this :

Part III : Final touches:

1.Ctrl+Click display layer thumbnail select the main shape layer and press delete. Repeat this step for all the buttons. Ctrl+Click main shape layer thumbnail, create a new layer (main shape ref) and fill it with white. Dont deselect yet. Apply a Gaussian blur with a radius of 20 px. Reduce the opacity to 42%.

2.We'll create some indents now:

Create an elliptical selection like so:

Fill in a new layer and apply the following styles:

Hide all the layers except this layer by holding down Alt while clicking the hide icon. Create a new layer and press Ctrl+Shift+E.

Using an elliptical selection with a feather of 10 px gently delete on our indent till you get something similar:

Make an elliptical selection (feather = 0 px) place it just over the indent and using the brush tool (Master diameter 65 px, hardness 0 px) fill with white on a new layer just by one click:

Deselect, press Ctrl+E to merge the layers, Ctrl+J (twice) to duplicate and arrange them like so (you may also cut a little bit of them using a selection with a father of 10 px):

3.Now using the line tool or the single row/column marquee tool draw some lines between + and -buttons:

4.Select the single column marquee tool, press D, Ctrl+Backspace, right arrow, Alt+Backspace (on a new layer, of course):

Press Ctrl+T, rotate it to right at about 30 degrees. Ctrl+Click main shape layer thumbnail, Ctrl+Shift+I and press delete. Delete the lower part too using a selection:

Repeat this step until you get something similar to mine:

Merge all four layers in one and reduce the opacity to 40%.

5.Using the polygonal lasso tool make a selection like mine:

Fill it with black in a new layer. Ctrl+Click main shape layer thumbnail, Ctrl+Shift+I and press delete.

Reduce the opacity of the shape you just drawn to 12%.Bring the layer on top of all layers.

6.You may also add some dots and text:

7.As a final touch you may add a shape in the back of the main shape:

Add some styles to the shape:

This is the final result:

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